Monday, March 22, 2010

Apologies for the long absence, but it's been a busy time for me at my day job, but with the 2010 Major League Soccer season about to begin, thanks to a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, it's time for me to get y'all some information.

First of all, the big news is that on Saturday MLS and the MLS Players Union announced they have reached a new 5 year CBA. The bulk of the details regarding the new CBA have not been released, but we do know that the cap has increased, slightly, most players will have guaranteed contracts, and there will be a "rentry draft" for players who get released by their clubs or who are out of contract and the former club is not interested in resigning them.

The Houston Dynamo wrapped up their pre-season schedule of friendlies on Saturday with a 3-1 over Chivas USA in Santa Barbara, California. On the whole the Dynamo went 7-0-4 during the pre-season, with a 2-0-3 record over MLS teams.

There was much concern about the Dynamo's midfield coming into pre-season because both Ricardo Clark and Stuart Holden made their ways to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga and Bolton in the EPL, respectively. Despite these losses, there are only a handful of new faces on the 2010 squad: Francisco Navas Cobo (m), a signing from the team's academy; former Dynamo player Adrian Serioux (d), and Jamaican International Lovel Palmer (m). While it make some time for Cobo to see some playing time, I would not be surprised to see Palmer and Serioux in the starting lineup, though I think Palmer might be a sub in the first few matches. The addition of these two more defensive players suggests that Geoff Cameron will be freed up for a more attacking role in the midfield.

The Dynamo open the 2010 season at FC Dallas at 3:00 pm central on Saturday March 27th and then have their home opener at 8:00 pm central on Thursday April 1st when they host Real Salt Lake.

The other big news in MLS this past weekend was the unveiling of RedBull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey this past Saturday when RedBull hosted Santos, in which RedBull won 3-1. Here's a video from the Grand Opening: